Falling productivity figures are a warning signal for companies. So far, so good, now a hectic rush is breaking out, as I am observing in many companies. The management is called upon to quickly overcome the productivity crisis. Internal and external experts are quickly on hand to contribute ideas, each with their own special perspective, on how processes and projects could be optimized to achieve greater productivity.

Your most valuable asset – your employees – is often neglected in the analyses. Functioning is the order of the day, adapted to the processes and as flexible as the projects require.

What is often overlooked is that the cause of productivity changes lies not only in processes or technologies, but also in the well-being of employees.

A healthy, valued team works more creatively, more motivated and more efficiently – saving time and money.

But how can this be measured?

Measurable factors for more productivity

Employee satisfaction plays a decisive role. You regularly use surveys to measure how motivated and committed employees feel. You believe this gives you a good insight into your company. The standardized questions and answers ultimately provide a changed picture over time. Low values, lower satisfaction – however, the key figures are often not brought into line with more or less productivity, or usually do not explain what kind of connection there should be between more productivity and increased satisfaction. Unsatisfactory?

The absenteeism rate that is often used can provide an indication of the working conditions; a low sickness rate is often linked to a healthy working environment. However, if the absenteeism rate is high, you cannot make a clear statement about the connection to productivity based on the sickness rate. More productivity does not only require less absenteeism.

The fluctuation rate – an important indicator: frequent resignations indicate dissatisfaction and can result in high costs. If your company is already in a spiral where you are experiencing increasing fluctuation, you may have increased productivity by reducing the number of employees, but you have not gained anything overall.

You can also use an engagement score to see how strongly employees identify with their work. Again, you probably have several measuring points and see changes over time. But there’s no clear link between engagement and increased productivity, is there?

A high creativity index, i.e. the number and implementation of ideas, indicates a dynamic and innovative environment. You will be pleased to hear that more creativity could also mean more productivity, but it doesn’t have to.

The quality of collaboration also has a significant impact on productivity. The collaboration index helps to assess team dynamics and communication. You will certainly see that teams that work well together are more productive – but good collaboration is difficult to prescribe from the outside and what actually constitutes good collaboration?

So now we have lots of KPIs, each of which has a certain value in itself, but we still haven’t answered the question of how more productivity can be achieved, and certainly not the question of the correlations.

So what can you do?

Involving and involving employees

If you involve your employees in the search for a solution to the decline in productivity, you can be sure that you will quickly identify the pain points that are preventing greater productivity. Everyone can make a contribution, and other colleagues may also share their own difficulties and obstacles to greater productivity. The commitment of the employees becomes tangible and everyone recognizes that changes are possible within their own sphere of influence.

This allows you to recognize connections that may not have been obvious, see that a positive change in one area has led to a negative change elsewhere or that skills need to be trained. Especially in difficult phases, companies need a sensitive early warning system that keeps an eye on all areas.

Better linked as an early warning system

Every employee perceives changes from their own role and perspective. This diversity of perspectives is valuable – it ensures that signals or undesirable developments do not go undetected.

An anonymous “company safe space” ensures that everyone can get involved. A safe space for open exchange prevents people from only seeing what they want to see. Transparent communication, in which everyone can contribute without fear of disadvantage, increases productivity and also helps to identify challenges at an early stage. If you ask yourself: “What am I not seeing?” and actively include the perspectives of your team, you can make better decisions and make your company more resilient, competitive and innovative.

The key to assessing well-being and increasing productivity

Without actively asking, you can see whether employees feel valued and heard. You also see how well they work together as a team and across team boundaries. You experience how employees are committed to creating a health-promoting environment for everyone, thus ensuring lower stress levels and greater well-being. Through involvement and participation, employees experience that their work is meaningful and thus ensure greater productivity.

Companies that actively look after the health and satisfaction of their teams benefit from higher productivity, less fluctuation and sustainable corporate success. Use your KPIs as a starting point and let’s optimize productivity together.